[47.12] The Rise Times of Type Ia Supernovae

Due to the nature of our high-redshift supernovae search
techniques, the Supernova Cosmology Project has been able to
map the very early rising portion of the light curve for a
Type Ia supernova. Over the past 4 years we have acquired
over 100 data points on several supernovae between 30 and 10
days before peak brightness in the restframe B-band light
curve. This has provided us with the ability to very
accurately define the rise time of a Type Ia supernova. The
results from this data have broad implications for both the
theoretical modeling and cosmological use of Type Ia
supernovae. Theoretically, the rise time provides a very
strong constraint on acceptable models, directly influencing
nucleosynthesis and opacity calculations as well as the
overall luminosity of these objects. From a cosmological
standpoint, the early portion of the optical light curve can
provide a strong signature for evolution, as differences
which might exist between nearby and distant sets of
supernovae have the potential for showing the greatest
discrepancy at these early times.

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